The Way I Am
by The Wasp1995
Summary: Cera has a sleep story about someone she has not thought about in a long time...and misses very dearly.


**Hello, everyone. So I know technically I'm supposed to be working on the next Chapter of 'This Is Growing Up' (actually I'm really supposed to be doing homework but who cares right?) however, over on the Gang of Five forum, there's a prompt challenge going on and it had to be done before the month was over.**

 **So this is my submission for it. Rhombus's guidelines state you have to post it here and on the forum.**

 **So without further ado, I bring you this short fic. Rock on, bros!**

 **The Way I Am**

A young orange threehorn, no older than seven or eight in human years, woke up with a such a fright, it caused her to jump straight up out of the nesting area and onto her back.

She looked around, panting. Peering back towards her sleeping spot, she saw that she had not woken up her sisters. She looked over at her parents, specifically her mother. They were both still fast asleep. She breathed a sigh of relief, as far as she was concerned if her mom wanted to sleep in instead of her usual habit of getting up at daybreak that was fine with her. The bright circle had not yet risen, but there was a faint glow on the horizon indicating its rise. All was quiet in the early morning, with only the sounds of insects and the occasional frog disrupting the peaceful sounds of sleeping dinosaurs.

Silently thanking the fates for avoiding a potential humiliation, the threehorn attempted to return to bed.

That is until she heard a soft voice call her name.

"Cera?"

Freezing in her tracks, she slowly turned around and saw the drowsy form of her mother rising, her father still snoozing away.

"Cera, what's wrong? I heard you scream."

 _Oh no!_ she thought. _She can't find out I had another scary sleep story!_

But her mother deduced exactly that.

"Did you have another night terror?"

She got up, careful not to rouse her mate or other daughters and made her ways towards her youngest. Though not as big as Topps, she was still quite large. The coloration of her skin was a lighter shade of brown but above all it was her eyes that distinguished her appearance. They were bright green, same as Cera's, and held a deep sense of compassion.

"No, mommy. A buzzer startled me, that's all.'

Though the young threehorn knew it was basically impossible to lie to her mother, she still attempted anyway. Better that than looking weak.

As she had guessed her mother saw right through the fib.

"Cera, you know you can't fool me. You had another night terror, didn't you?"

Bowing her head, Cera started to shed tears.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm not supposed to get these terrible sleep stories anymore. But they keep happening. Please don't be mad."

She felt the light touch of her mother's horn lifting her own head up and she found herself peering directly into her eyes.

"Sweetheart, there's no shame in having these night terrors. I used to get them when I was your age. It's a natural part of life."

"But I'm not supposed to be scared," Cera almost argued. "I want to be strong and brave. I want to be the bravest threehorn there ever was."

Her mother gave a small smile, lowering her eyes slightly.

"How very much like your father you are," she said softly. Lowering her head once more, she nuzzled Cera lovingly, one which she returned.

"Cera, my beautiful girl. You are a brave threehorn and you make me proud every day. But being brave doesn't mean the absence of fear. It means you do the things you have to do in spite of it."

Cera nodded in response, but she did not completely understand. She hoped her mom wasn't testing her.

"I am brave, mom. I can face anything on my own. I know I can."

Shaking her frill slightly, but chuckling all the same, the mother threehorn gazed lovingly at her stubborn daughter.

"I have no doubt that you can and will. But even the bravest of threehorns need help sometimes. Your father too. Life would be quite lonely and difficult without the company of others."

After a pause, she spoke again, this time more softly.

"What I'm trying to say, Cera, is never be too proud to admit when you are scared, when you are vulnerable, when you need help. In those moments, we must rely on those we call our friends. And it doesn't make you weak, it makes you normal. Do you understand?"

Cera nodded to indicate that she did, feeling the comfort of her mother's words like a gentle, warm breeze in the morning sun. It was an effect no one else had on her. Smiling, she hugged her mother's front leg, while she gave another affectionate nudge in return.

"Mom, can I go play?" she said, energy surging through her like a current.

"Yes, I suppose so," she replied. "I'll go and wake your father and sisters. I'll try to find some food before we resume our journey to the Great Valley."

"When are we gonna get there?" Cera asked as her stomach growled. "The green food around here isn't even green and it tastes like dirt."

Her mother audibly sighed. "We still have some ways to go yet, honey. For now, we have to sustain ourselves with what still grows out here. But don't concern yourself with that. Run along and have fun."

Eager to find something fun to do, the little threehorn willingly obliged, running off towards the west.

"Don't stray too far, sweetheart!" she could hear her calling as she ran past a group of thorn bushes, adding, "I love you!"

However, she went far beyond the boundaries of the herds and in her hastiness to find something to do, was out of sight of even the tallest longneck or protective threehorn.

Soon, Cera came upon the entrance to a small tunnel. Sniffing, she could sense a swampy odor coming from its depths. Which meant there was some sort of goo or pond below.

 _Might as well have some fun before mom calls me back_ , she thought to herself. _Even if daddy might get a bit mad for getting dirty_.

She entered the tunnel and could see the pond below. A giant tree stood atop a small enclosure, its roots visible before disappearing into the murky water below.

However, before she took another step, she heard a loud ***ribbit** followed by laughter. Her threehorn instincts kicking, she immediately ran to see who it was. Arriving at another entrance to the enclosure, she saw a hopper go by and it was being chased by a young male longneck. Upon inspection, it was the same one that had laughed at her the other day.

"Hey, hopper! Come back!" the brown longneck called.

Cera's mood immediately turned confrontational. She thought she had driven this flathead off the other day. In any case, she was not about to share her pond with the likes of him.

She charged forward, getting right up in his face with her small horn, trying to drive home the point that he was not welcome.

"You again?" she practically sneered. "Go away! That's _my_ hopper!"

Turning back towards her pond, she followed the path the hopper had just taken into the pond, intending to catch it for herself.

"Uh..I saw him first," the longneck protested.

"Well he's in my pond," she shot back.

Cera hoped that would settle the matter, but clearly the dumb flathead didn't get the message. As she slid down on a small ramp and into the mangrove, the other dinosaur followed in after her, bumping her from behind with his body.

Positively annoyed, she was about to turn around and give the flathead a piece of her horn, when she noticed the hopper once more. It caught enough of her attention to forget about the longneck, and she prepared to pounce on it with all her might.

Unfortunately for Cera, the hopper turned out to be an illusion. She flung into herself into what was actually a large bubble. Though the swamp was full of them, this puzzled her as she could hear multiple hoppers all around her, the croaking and ribbiting echoing throughout the enclosure. But none were in sight.

 _Where are you?_

Another bubble appeared underneath the longneck, toppling him over, but with the same reflection of the hopper within.

 _Gotcha!_

She sprung forward again, only to come up empty handed once more. She repeated this action two more times, both yielding the same result. In the background, Cera could hear the longneck laughing happily, but truth be told she was beginning to enjoy herself as well.

She began laughing too and they both started to pop bubbles simultaneously.

"Hey, this is kinda fun!" she exclaimed, happily.

This continued for a few minutes among the threehorn and the longneck, the discord between them temporarily forgotten. But the moment was not to last. For as they played among the swamp bubbles, a large shadow descended upon them.

The ground began to shake. The bright circle, now full arisen in the mid morning, was blocked from view. A low, ominous growl could be heard among the sounds of the dinosaur world.

It didn't take long for either Cera or the longneck to notice these developments. Looking around frantically, they spotted a huge, dark green, hulking mass moving towards them with great speed. With evil red eyes, razor sharp teeth, and an appetite to match, he was the walking menace that stalked these herds. The symbol of terror in the beyond. If he had a name it had long been forgotten. He was only known now as 'The Terrible One'-the most vicious, ruthless, sadistic Tyrannosaurus that had ever lived.

"Sharptooth!" Cera screamed, as the ferocious predator roared with malice.

Fear consumed her entire being as she scrambled to get her small legs churning, slipping and sliding in the swampy goo. She could hear the longneck screaming for his mother. None of that mattered now. The only thing that did, was escaping out of this alive.

She ran continually and by this time the longneck nowhere to be found. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, the little threehorn pushed herself to go faster, but the more she tried, the closer the sharptooth seemed to get.

 _I'm going to get eaten!_

The land seemed to melt into a brown haze with only her and the sharptooth being discernable. Space and time itself seemed to fall away. Faster she went, but the sharptooth was faster. All of a sudden, he leapt into the air with a terrifying roar and landed right in front of her.

Paralyzed with fear, Cera could no longer move. It was no longer a question of 'if'. It was simply when. There was now way out.

Saliva dripped disgustingly from the monster's mouth, eyes blood red from the thrill of the hunt, tongue licking his teeth greedily. He roared once more, and Cera found herself staring into the black jaws of death. With one strike, it would all be over. Not even attempting to run at this juncture, Cera only hoped for a quick, painless death as sharptooth reared back his ugly head and lunged towards her.

All she could do was scream...

* * *

Her eyes opened as she awoke with a start. She could hear flyers in the air, the soft wind blowing against her head. The light of the bright circle was all around and it provided a natural antidote to the pounding that still thumped against her chest.

Realizing she was on her back, she quickly sat up and cleared her head.

Breathing heavily, Cera couldn't believe how vivid the dream was. Slowly, she came back to herself.

"That felt way too real," she muttered to herself. Still struggling to calm down, she mentally chastised herself.

 _Get a grip, it was only a sleep story…a really bad one._

She recalled what had transpired in the dream. The sharptooth they had previously killed all those years ago had attacked them and was half a second from devouring her…no need to analyze that. She had also dreamt about one of the first times she had met Littlefoot. Not the most amiable of meetings, but they had long since settled most of their differences. Chasing that hopper had been fun after all. Yet these recollections were not what gave Cera a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Then the memory struck her like an asteroid. Someone had appeared in her sleep story she had not thought of in a long time.

"Mom," she said aloud in a whisper.

"Cera?" said a voice she recognized anywhere. The lumbering figure of her father came into view. He was chewing on something, probably water plants.

 _He must have gone to the Thundering Falls_ , Cera mused.

"Oh good, you're awake," he said as he reached their sleep spot. "You missed breakfast." Then, catching that not all was not well, he eyed her curiously.

"Is something the matter?"

Cera swallowed nervously. "No daddy, just a bad sleep story. I'm fine."

The threehorn patriarch snorted at this. "Bad sleep story? I thought you stopped having those awhile back."

She shrugged in response, trying to play it cool. "Guess it was just random."

Her father proceeded to humph and give her a stern look. Cera knew what the lecture would be before it even happened.

"Cera, sleep stories are for hatchlings not adults. I can't even remember the last time I had one. You can't be a threehorn and fear something as silly as a sleep story. It's nonsense."

She was in no mood to argue, or rather she simply did not have the mental energy.

"Yes, daddy."

"That's my girl. Remember what I taught you. A threehorn shows no fear and never backs down from anything." He shook his horns and stamped on the ground for dramatic effect.

Cera nodded as the words from her memory whispered to her, " _Never be too proud to admit when you are scared, when you are vulnerable, when you need help…"_

"I'm going to find Littlefoot," she announced. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stay around her dad. Luckily, he didn't object to her proclamation.

"Alright," he grunted. "Be back before the evening."

And without another word, she ran off to seek her friends. Anything to get her mind off the emotional turmoil that raged inside.

* * *

It didn't take long for Cera to find them. As per usual, they were sitting around the tall grass at the edge of the plains chatting.

 _Probably waiting for me. I am a bit late_.

"Hey, Cera!" Littlefoot called as she approached.

"What's up guys?"

They were sitting a loose circle, with Ducky lying on her back and Petrie resting on Spike's big shoulders. Even Littlefoot was in a rather lazy position.

"Uh..are we going to do anything?"

"Oh yeah, of course," said Littlefoot. "We were just talking about our sleep stories."

Cera's heart skipped a beat. Of all the things they had to be talking about…

"Why would you do that?"

"We thought it might be interesting," Littlefoot shrugged. "We also needed something to do before you got here."

Petrie rose from Spike's back and began zooming around.

"Me still think I have the best the one."

"No you didn't," argued Ducky. "Your sleep story was just you flying over a mountain."

"Yeah! Me don't see you able to do that."

"Well you can't have a sleep story about swimming under an entire lake. No, no, no."

Cera rolled her eyes at the argument. This was not how she wanted to start off the day.

"Do you have sleep stories Spike?" Littlefoot asked.

The Stegosaurus gave a small nod, and proceeded to chomp on the grass they were sitting on.

"Gee I wonder what they're about," said Cera sarcastically.

"Is something the matter, Cera?" Ducky asked, getting up out of concern.

 _What is it with everyone being able to guess my mood today?_ She thought grouchily as her stomach gave a rather unnatural twist.

"I'm just peachy," she replied shortly. "Now come on, let's go do something already."

"Hold on, I never got to share my own sleep story," Littlefoot protested.

Cera huffed loudly.

"Must you regale us with this tale?"

"I want to hear it. Oh yes, yes, yes."

"Me too!"

Even Spike grunted in approval.

"Oh alright!" she relented. "But make it quick."

The longneck beamed and eagerly told them of the dream.

"In my sleep story I was Doc! I was walking along this rocky edge, when two sharpteeth came out of nowhere…"

Cera wasn't really listening. She knew how the story would go and in the end she guessed correctly, Littlefoot saved the day and the sharpteeth were left toothless. But she couldn't focus on Littlefoot even if she wanted to. For a comforting image of a large threehorn with bright green eyes kept entering her mind.

 _"_ _Cera, my beautiful daughter…"_ the whisper said to her and for a brief moment it was almost as if she were there…as if she were alive again.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Littlefoot kept calling out her name.

"Cera? Cera?"

She came back to reality.

"What?!" she said a bit too aggressively.

Taken aback, the longneck became hesitant.

"Sorry, I was just asking you if you have any cool sleep stories."

A twinge of regret went through the orange threehorn for being too sharp with Littlefoot, but she felt more than just that. Peering into the amber eyes of her best friend (and blushing slightly), there was a sudden urge to tell him everything. About her sleep story, about meeting him for the first time, her fears, her hopes, her mother….

 _"_ _Even the bravest of threehorns need help sometimes."_

And just as quickly as that feeling came, it went, replaced by the cloud of fear.

Without hesitation she stuck her horn up arrogantly and brushed past her friends.

"No. Sleep stories are for babies and threehorns don't have them. Especially not this one!"

The rest of the gang looked confused and a more than a little put off.

"But Cera, everyone has sleep stories. They do, they do," Ducky interjected.

"Besides, you've admitted you've had them before," agreed Littlefoot. "So what's the big…"

He was cut off before he could finish his sentence, as the next thing he knew, a horn and a pair of angry green eyes bore down him like a thundering rain.

"I said, I don't-get-sleep-stories!" she said furiously, pushing him back a little further with each word until finally knocking him over.

She saw that the rest of the group was so shocked by her actions, that none of them said anything. Even Littlefoot, who usually never hesitated to get into an argument with her, was speechless.

In her gut, Cera knew she was wrong. Her temper made her difficult to be around sometimes, and it pained her to see Littlefoot looking at her like that. He was the one dinosaur that would always be there for her, the one she admired above everyone else, the one that would understand more than anyone what it was like to lose a mom…all she could do was push him away.

Yet she was not in the habit of apologizing once a deed was done and above all, she was not about to lose face. So pretending as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, she trudged ahead, horn in the air, appearing as proud as ever.

"I'm going to find a pinecone so we can play. If any of you want to come with, follow me. Otherwise, you can go back to talking about your dumb sleep stories."

Cera didn't look back to see what their decision was, but she could hear them get up from the ground and slowly fall in behind her.

In the distance she could hear them talking about had just transpired.

"Me no get it," Petrie said quietly. "Why she act like that?"

"I don't know either, Petrie," Littlefoot said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "It's just the way she is. I don't pretend to understand it."

What they didn't realize or see, was that the orange threehorn was silently weeping. Tears silently ran down her cheeks, lightly touching the grass as they fell from her face. The illusion of her pride all but vanished.

Out of nowhere, a soft, warm wind picked up from the west. It reached Cera, wiping the tears from her eyes. Within the Great Valley, it spoke gently.

 _"_ _I love you, Cera."_

Sniffing, she whispered ever so softly.

"I love you too, mom…I miss you."

* * *

 **Probably one of the saddest things I've ever written and one of the most introspective. Hope you all enjoyed it.**

 **~TheWasp**


End file.
